As India celebrates National Education Day tomorrow (November 11), students talk about their expectations from the current education system, and where it is lacking
India celebrates National Education Day tomorrow, November 11, as a mark of respect for Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, eminent educationist and the first education minister of independent India. November 11 is the birth anniversary of this freedom fighter who served as the union education minister from 1947 to 1958, and considered schools as laboratories that produced future citizens of the country. He strongly emphasised on quality education and advocated universal primary education, girls’ education, free and compulsory education for children up to the age of 14.
With educational institutions today still lacking in many aspects, and the conflicting ideas of academic education and the demands of the professional spheres, we speak to students across age groups about their idea of education.
Not prepared to face professional challenges
Our education system is such that it does not prepare us for the competitive world that awaits us but instead prepares us so that we can compete with just our fellow classmates. I fully agree that theoretical knowledge is the basic and we need it but so is practical knowledge. Unfortunately practical knowledge is not given the emphasis that it requires. That is the reason we feel the huge leap when we actually step out in the world and seek a job or an internship. We are not prepared to face the worldly challenges because of which we start losing hope in ourselves. Education is an important part in shaping our personalities as well us our career with a few changes here and there in the system. I feel we can achieve that goal wherein our education is more quality-based rather than being just a grade race. Schools have been concentrating more on marks than sharing knowledge. It is high time that the authorities realised that we need to change the system according to the generation and the times we are living in.
— Renuka Rajpathak, young HR professional, Pune
Need to update
For me, school has been a fun experience because of the involvement and guidance from my teachers. But I believe that we could really benefit if the system is slightly updated to match the pace the world is progressing at, in terms of digitisation and other aspects. I honestly feel that if all the students were studying in the same board, it would help because then everybody would be on the same page. There is also a need to add physical fitness courses and ones that students can select based on their choice of career. If such courses are added in the curriculum, it’ll be easy to focus on one career path and excel in it. It will definitely eliminate the confusion a student goes through in their final years of schooling and help them work in one direction to achieve their set goal. I also feel that the societal stigma related to a few educational streams is impacting the career choices a student makes. I think more than pressuring students into scoring big, students should be given proper guidance.
— Umika Arora, Class IX, Symbiosis International School, Pune
Digital is the way
What I really like about our educational system is that the portion is simplified and the language is easy to understand. But many times we come across information in our textbooks that is not updated regularly because of which we are still stuck with some old information. I genuinely feel that our system needs more digitisation and digital tools involved in the learning as well as the teaching process. Short-term courses on topics such as law, taxation and basic finance are extremely necessary because practical experience and knowledge is missing from the courses that are taught in schools and colleges because of which we are not that empowered even after our graduation. There is not much scope to land anything more than a basic job, unless you apply for competitive exams. Currently the system is really outdated and made in such a way that a student needs to drag through the semester without gaining any possible practical knowledge to face the world.
— Angela Jacob, BCom, Ness Wadia College, Pune
Fear instead of enjoyment
I feel the current education is too overloading. I wish we were allowed to pick up subjects which were of our interest. We fear examination instead of loving and enjoying the entire learning process. We get so caught up in completing our assignments that we are just blindly copy-pasting them and not really using our knowledge. The system should be such that the focus is on overall development. Knowledge is the potential key to sustain in life but when it’s just based on books, it is not really going to help us in anyway. School has just become stressful with all the deadlines putting a lot of pressure on us. The current education system does not empower us. Although I am fortunate enough to go to a school equipped with various facilities to groom us, the education system does not enforce these things.
—Kautik Bhardwaj, Class VIII, The Emerald Heights
International School, Indore
